Christmas with the Laytons
by MadMoomin
Summary: Lucy Baker finally gets to meet Alfendi's mysterious family when she joins the Laytons on Christmas Day.
1. Chapter 1

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE Y'ALL!**

 **Ok, confession time: I meant to post this story 3 Christmas's ago, but I never finished it the first time and the next 2 years I had stopped enjoying the festive season and didn't bother.**

 **BUT THIS YEAR I FEEL REALLY CHRISTMASSY**

 **So, with a rewrite and new characters since it was planned, please enjoy this very late story!**

Christmas with the Layton's

"Deck the 'alls with sommit' holly..." Detective Constable Lucy Baker muttered to herself, unsure of the real lyrics to the carol. Her song was accompanied only by the hum of the central heating system, and the tapping of her shoes as they met the polished marble hallways of Scotland Yard Headquarters. The Yard was always bustling with activity, but today it was eerily quiet, with only a few other individuals in the entire building. The absence of the familiar chaos gave the workplace a ghostly and spine chilling atmosphere, that not even the Christmas trees and tinsel could lift. Lucy shuddered and pressed on; of course, she hadn't expected many people to be in, not on Christmas Eve, she wasn't intending to stay herself; she'd come to make last minute plans for the next day.

Every Christmas she was fussed over and spoiled by her parents, caught up in the tradition that Christmas was for family alone, and being an only child she found herself short of anyone her age to talk to. But this year she had decided it was time to be independent, and to spend Christmas Day in London with friends. The problem was, she had left organising anything a bit late, so she had come to the Yard to see if, just maybe, anyone was free. Besides, nearly everybody working there were oddballs, someone was bound to be unoccupied.

The endeavour, however, was not fruitful. Hilda was spending the season in Australia and had been gone for some time, Dustin was in some unheard of tropical country helping his brother with archaeological digs, while Florence was being cared for by her cousin, the cold having given her a bad flu. Even Sniffer, once found going through a box of unused Christmas decorations, turned out to be busy; he had decided to work over the holidays (Lucy wondered if anything could tear him from his investigations).

Lucy trudged back along the corridors with a sigh; it looked like Christmas Day was going to be a little bleak this year. Hands in pockets, she skipped across the stone tiles; she could always try to find a train to Yorkshire to see her parents, but she had been determined to do something different this year! Lucy stopped in her tracks, and reversed two paces. She was stood outside a door, with the words "London's New Scotland Yard Serious Crime Division Classified Investigation Agency Headquarters" written on a placard that was screwed into the wood. Lucy smiled to herself; if anyone was going to be free on Christmas Day, it was the man behind this door.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS PROF!" Lucy shouted, throwing the door of the Mystery Room open. Inspector Alfendi Layton was sat at his usual spot, at the desk sorting through files. He was dressed as usual, in his signature red and blue jumper under a white lab coat, the pockets of which were stuffed with newspapers and magazines. His floppy, dusty purple hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that rested on his shoulder. At Lucy's entry, Alfendi jumped out of his skin, scattering paper everywhere that covered the carpet like snow. The man had thrown himself backwards in shock, and was now sprawled on the floor, entangled with the office chair. Lucy dived forward to help him, but Alfendi had already scrambled to his feet, his hair scarlet and draped across his face.

" **LUCY!** " He screamed, anger radiating off him like heat. " **What the Hell was that for! Look what you've done!** " He pointed at the avalanche of unorganised paperwork with open palms. Lucy looked at the mess sheepishly, her face bright red.

"Ur..." She mumbled. "An' a 'appy new year?"

Lucy returned to the Mystery Room door with two cups of tea. She was scarlet with embarrassment, wondering how on Earth she was going to convince the Prof to spend Christmas with her now. She took a deep breath, then pushed the door open with her shoulder. Inside, Alfendi had cleared up the paper and was slotting it inside a folder. His hair had returned to dusty purple, but Lucy barely ever used this as an indicator of which personality was in control; She was with the Prof so often these days that she could instantly tell whether ' **Potty Prof** ' or ' _Placid Prof'_ was making an appearance from the tiniest details: from the way he talked, to his posture. Lucy was never alarmed by the change in personality, as she had been when she first experienced it. Besides, they were quite frequent now that Alfendi was more open about his disorder, and while Placid was there most often, Potty made appearance's daily, often to complain about the quality of the corner shop's sandwiches, or to back-chat an annoying client once they had left the room.

Alfendi looked up at Lucy, his cheeks a little flushed, but not with the anger that had been there a few minutes ago; he too was embarrassed.

Lucy stepped cautiously into the room and handed him the cup of tea. "Ah… Sorry 'bout that." Lucy stammered nervously. "I was just… Ur… I din' mean ta'."

" _It's fine, Lucy_." Alfendi said quietly, taking the tea with an anxious smile. He cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze. " _I should be the one apologizing, really. You have to put up with a lot, working with me, and I never really-"_

"Ah, don't worry yourself none." Lucy smiled. "You think I'd still be 'ere if I couldn' deal with it?" Alfendi smiled back at her graciously, and Lucy half expected him to say something else, like 'Thank you' or 'for that I'm grateful' or even just 'Well, that's ok then', but, in true Alfendi Layton style, he placed his tea on the desk and sat down at the computer, leaving the conversation irritatingly unfinished. Lucy tried to hide her disappointment. She remembered her mission; she didn't want to straight out ask him to come over to her flat for Christmas, that might make her sound clingy. No, she would have to find a way to subtly slip the subject into a conversation.

Alfendi tapped away at the keyboard, updating this, proof reading that, getting the boring stuff out of the way. Lucy leaned on the computer screen, so that her forearms and head were just visible above the glaring, digital documents. Alfendi glanced at her for a moment before returning to his work. "So…" She started, coolly. "What'd ya think of the decorations?" He stopped typing for a moment to look around the room at the glittery, rather sad bits of tinsel that littered every surface.

" _It… Leaves room for improvement for next year._ " He concluded. " _But next time, please ask me before decorating, it throws off my concentration when I'm calculating the possibility that a murderer is a dog owner."_

"Aww, come off it Prof!" Lucy exclaimed. "It's Christmas! Ya gotta decorate at Christmas!"

 _"_ **Do you? Well, I for one can't stand Christmas. Shop's are too busy to breath in and annoying and repetitive songs are everywhere** _._ **Still,** _"_ He chuckled a little. " **Plenty of murders happen at Christmas.** _"_ Lucy decided to ignore this, and began to stroke the tinsel that was sellotaped around the computer screen.

"Well, if you 'ate it that much, I guess you won't be busy tomorra'!" She said excitedly. "It's just that, I was planning a bit of a get together with some of the gang, and if ya wanted to come…" Alfendi looked up at her briefly with a slight scowl, before returning to computer.

" **Sorry, Lucy, but I already have plans**." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oh…" Lucy felt like a little piece of her broke at his reply. So that was it, then? Everyone, even the Prof, had plans, and she would be alone on Christmas.

Alfendi had not yet looked up at her disheartened expression, and continued talking. " **You'll have to give my apologies to the other guests."** He stopped dead in his typing, causing silence to fill the room. He stared up at Lucy, his face overcome with sudden realisation. " **Because there are going to be other guests** _."_ He said sternly, using statements rather than questions. " **Because you invited other people, didn't you Lucy?** " Lucy chewed her lip, her cheeks once again flushing with embarrassment.

"Eh…" She started. "Well… Invite, yes. However, like you, everyone's already doing sommit'. She stood upright and gave a feeble smile. "But, never mind, heh? I'm sure I'll think of sommit' to do." She rubbed her hands together sadly, not wanting to look Alfendi in the eye. He didn't stop staring, as if he were trying to work something out.

" _... Are you sure?"_

"Positive." She replied shortly. There was a short silence, then Alfendi gave a little cough.

" _Well… If you did want some company…"_ He mumbled. _"I mean, when I say I have plans… It's not exactly invitation only… But if."_ He shook himself. " _No, no… Never mind. Bad idea, you wouldn't enjoy it anyway-"_

"Wouldn't enjoy what?!" Lucy leaned forward eagerly. Alfendi knotted his fingers, undecided as to whether he should go through with the offer.

 _"_ _Well…"_ He explained. _"Every year, my family… We have reunion of sorts… And if you wanted to pop along…"_ He cringed with every word. " _... Well I don't think anyone would object…"_ Lucy's grin broadened.

"Y-ya'd really let come an' meet ya family?" She could barely believe what she was hearing; Alfendi Layton, who frowned whenever someone compared him to his father, who snapped when compared to his sister or at the mention of his brother, was suggesting that she, Lucy, should spend Christmas day with him and his almost unheard of family.

" _Of course._ " He continued " _You don't have to come, you wouldn't know anyone and would probably get bored- OUF!"_

"PROF!" Lucy cried, having dashed around the desk to hug him. "THANK YOU! I'D LOVE TO COME!"

 **See y'all tomorrow!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oops... Oh well, it's still kinda Christmas.**

One last time, Lucy flattened down her hair. She inspected herself in the mirror; she wore a black and white sleeveless knee length dress, patterned with flowers. Under this she wore black tights and brown pumps, perhaps a little chilly for this weather, so she just had to hope against hope that the party didn't take her outside at any point. Lastly, her signature hat was replaced by a headband composed of silver flowers. She looked proudly at her image; she had forgotten to ask the Prof if this meet up would be formal or casual, so she had come up with this outfit as a compromise; if it was formal, then the black, sparkly cardigan in her bag would perfectly suit her outfit. If it was more casual, she had her favourite Christmas jumper to show off.

Content with how she looked, she picked up the gift bag she had prepared; Lucy had wanted to get everyone a present, but seeing as Alfendi hadn't given her any information about who would be there, she had instead bought an offering of a bottle of wine and two selection tins of biscuits. Everything was ready, in her purse she had packed tissues, coughs sweets, her phone, she had prepared everything to be completely fail proof… So why was she still so freaking nervous? Her stomach churned uncomfortably as she waited in her lounge, jumping at every passing car, silently praying that it wasn't already the Prof come to pick her up. Thoughts bounced around her head.

What if they hate you?

What if you hate them?

What if they try and engage you in conversation?

What if you end up talking to no one?

What if they're serial murders?

Ok, now you're getting silly. It's Alfendi's family! They can't be that bad!

Yes, Alfendi's family.

AKA Potty Prof's family.

AKA the PSYCHOTIC MADMAN'S family.

Lucy made a grab for her phone, desperately dialling Al's number as she invented some excuse not to go. Before she could hit the call button, someone knocked at the door. Lucy froze; he was there, could she bring herself to straight up lie to his face? No, no she couldn't do that, she was blowing things way out of proportion anyway. Hesitantly, she picked up the gift bag and answered the door.

She opened the door, and there was Al. He wore his usual gear, other than his white coat, which was replaced by a black padded one to fight the cold. The gave Lucy some relief; so it wasn't formal after all. Alfendi gave her a half smile. " _Ready?"_

Before putting her seatbelt on, Lucy retrieved her jumper from the bag and pulled it over her head. Al gave her a sideways glance. " _What on Earth is that?"_ He asked.

"An armadillo." She replied, giggling. "What's it look like, Prof!" Her face fell a little. "Of course… If it ain't appropriate…"

" _It's not that it isn't appropriate."_ Al explained _. "_ _It's hideous!"_

"Oy!" She laughed. "That ain't no way to talk to a woman!"

 _"_ _Oh, please, you're starting to sound like my father."_ Lucy's excitement once again bubbled; she was about to find out 'like my father' meant.

The car pulled up on the pavement. They had driven to the outer edge of London, and were now in a small, quiet street. Lucy got out of the car and look up at the house they had parked outside. "So… This is you're…"

" _My grandparent's house."_ Al finished her sentence. They walked up to the front, when Alfendi stopped, and sighed. " _I… I should probably warn you,"_ He said reproachfully. _"My family isn't exactly what you could call… Normal…"_ Lucy stared questioningly. _"Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just… Well, if anyone says something out of context, don't ask for the story behind it. Ever."_ Before Lucy could say another word, Al hit the doorbell.

As it chimed, Lucy began to wonder if she should just run. A dark figure appeared behind the translucent glass. Surely people couldn't get weirder than the Prof, but if he had felt the need to warn her…

The handle was pulled down, the door swung back, revealing a little old lady, smiling happily at them.

"Alfendi!" She exclaimed, joyously. Al beamed back at her, his hair scarlett.

" **Merry Christmas, Grandma."** Al bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Lucy couldn't help being completely thrown by Al's sudden and unprompted change.

"And you must be Lucy!" The lady cooed, taking Lucy's hands and pulling her out of the cold. "It's so nice to finally meet one of our Alfendi's friends! He's told us all about you!"

" **Grandma, please-** "

"That's… Very sweet." Lucy giggled awkwardly. "Thank you for letting me come, urr… Mrs Layton."

"Call me Lucille, dear." The old woman smiled as she scuttled away into the kitchen, steam flowing through the doorway. "You two are a little early, so make yourselves at home!" She called, closing the door behind her.

" **I'll… Show you to the living room.** " Alfendi muttered as he hung his coat on a hook.

Lucy followed him, grinning teasingly. "So… You've told 'em all about me?"

" **Shut up.** "

"Aww, don't get like that now!" She laughed. She couldn't stop thinking about how sweetly he had smiled at Lucille. She had never seen Potty act like that, she was used to Placid being the polite and kind one, but now?

The living room had a roaring fire in the fireplace that coated the walls in a toasty red glow. Squishy looking sofas and cushions filled up most of the space, with worn rugs covering the floorboards. The room was vacant other than an elderly man, snoozing in an armchair. Alfendi sighed, and gave the man a soft prod in the shoulder.

" **Granpa!** " He hissed. " **People are arriving soon.** " The old man still snored.

"Oh, honestly! I gave him a ten-minute warning!" Lucille marched in, removing a pair of oven

gloves. She held them both in her hand and smacked the man around the head with them. He woke with a start. "Time to wake up, Roland! Look who's here!" She shook her head despairingly and tutted "Deary me…" as she went back to the kitchen.

"What- where?" Roland blink bleary eyed around the room, before settling his gaze on his grandson. "Ah! Hershel, my dear boy!"

" **No, Granpa. It's me, Alfendi.** "

"Oh." He looked somewhat put out. "Yes, of course I knew that." He looked past Alfendi, squinting suspiciously. "Say… Is that that Emmy girl?"

"Umm…" Lucy looked around before realising that he was talking to her.

" **No, it's not. This is Lucy Baker, my… Assistant.** " Al introduced her. " **Lucy, this is my Grandfather, Roland Layton**."

"Ah, good." Roland said, mostly to himself. "I never liked that Emmy. I can smell a bad egg when I see one, and let me tell you-"

" **Thank you, Grandpa.** " Al interrupted through gritted teeth. He held Lucy by the shoulder and lead her to a sofa, whispering in her ear. " **He's in the early stages of dementia.** " He explained. " **He'll say some odd things, so just ignore him.** "

"Ah, right." Lucy nodded as she perched on a sofa, expecting Al to join her, but he continued walking.

" **I'm going to see if Lucille needs help with dinner.** "

"Oh, do ya want me t-" But Alfendi had already left through the arched doorway before she could offer her assistance. She tapped her knees awkwardly, scanning the walls to try and entertain herself. The Layton's had many framed photos of all sorts of people: a lot of them looked like long gone relatives, but most showed a younger Lucille and Roland, often with a boy. In fact, now that she has noticed him, this boy seemed to be everywhere; as a child, a graduating teenager, and as an adult, sporting a tall top hat-

Lucy got up to get a closer look at a photo. It showed the man in the top hat, a teenaged girl holding a baby and…

"Is that… Alfendi?" She chuckled. "E's so small! And 'is hair is all neat and-" Roland gave a loud snore. Lucy sighed and sat back down, cupping her chin in her hands. Roland didn't exactly make for great company.

Some minutes later, the front door opened.

"Hello?" The new comer called. Curious, Lucy got up and peered into the hall. Closing the door behind her was a tall woman in a pretty floral dress. Her light brunette hair flowed freely down her back, tied back from her forehead with a ribbon. Despite holding a heavy looking carrier bag in one hand and a baby on her hip with the other, she moved with such a regal elegance that Lucy felt the inexplicable desire to curtsey. The lady turned to her, and gave a pleasantly surprised smile. "Oh! I don't think we've met!" She said, in a silky voice.

"Uh…" Lucy mumbled, embarrassed. "I'm Lucy Baker. I'm-"

"Oh, of course! You're Alfendi's friend!" The woman swept past her and placed down her bag in the living room. "I thought I heard something about you coming! Oh, silly me! I haven't introduced myself! I'm Flora, Alfendi's sister." As Flora chatted away and greeted Lucy with her beautiful, dark eyes, Lucy recognised her as the teenager she had seen in the photograph. So, if this was Alfendi's sister, perhaps that made the baby in the picture his mysterious brother?

Flora's baby sneezed, as if trying to draw attention to herself. Flora chucked and set the child down on the sofa. "I'm sorry, Carrie, you must be cold from that walk." Flora apologised. "Lucy, this is my daughter. Carrie? Will you stay with Lucy while I go and find Grandma and Uncle Fendi?" Without another word, Flora got up and left for the kitchen, leaving a rather bewildered Lucy to take care of the baby. Unsure of what else to do, Lucy crouched beside Carrie.

"Um, hi there, Carrie." Carrie gave an unimpressed gurgle; she couldn't have been more than one year old, and yet Lucy felt like she was being judged. She reached out to tickle the child's nose, but Carrie gave an angry shout. "Eh, you're no fun." She complained, and stuck her tongue out. This made the girl laugh, and she tried to return the gesture, but found that her mouth hadn't learned the movements yet. She was amused anyway and continued to laugh as Lucy pulled funny faces.

" _I see you've met my niece_." Alfendi had reappeared, hands shoved into his pockets with his shoulders hunched. Placid seemed a lot less comfortable in this setting than his other self, as if Potty was the dominant personality here. Alfendi sat beside Carrie and gave her an awkward pat on the head. The baby lunged into his lap, much to his mixed surprise and mild horror. Lucy chuckled at his reaction and scooped up Carrie.

"I think she wants a hug." She laughed, sitting Carrie down on Alfendi's lap. He gave a small smile.

" _Oh, I guess she does._ " He admitted as Carrie snuggled up to him. He seemed rather hesitant to let her cuddle up to him. " _… I'm not great with kids._ " He explained.

"Eh, me neither." Lucy shrugged. "I guess it's the kinda thing ya learn on the job."

" _Heh, I suppose so._ " Alfendi agreed, stroking Carrie's dark curly hair. He smiled up at Lucy, unintentionally catching her eye. He looked away quickly. Was is just the steam from the kitchen, or had he gone a little red?

Flora waltzed back in. Alfendi relaxed, his features sharpened. " **Looks like you drew the short straw, hey Sis?** " He joked, the incriminating blush fading fast. Flora rolled her eyes.

"I'm not allowed to see it that way." She protested. Seeing Lucy's questioning look, she explained. "My husband's family are also having their Christmas dinner today, so we decided each to take one of the twins."

"Twins?" Lucy turned back to the baby girl. "You 'ave a twin, 'ave ya?"

" **Yep. Her brother, Gus, is the sensible one. And you** " he ruthlessly tickled her, making Carrie howl with infant laughter. " **are a little minx! Aren't you?** "

The front door crashed open. "Come on, Dad! You're not that much of a cripple!" An energetic and youthful voice called back out into the street. Alfendi and Flora looked at one another; Flora seemed amused, but the Prof looked rather worried. He glanced at Lucy, sighed and got up, handing Carrie over to her mother. Curiously, Lucy followed him into the hall. The door had been left wide open, letting in the cold wind and sending shivers down her spine.

"Come on! Come on!" The voice cried again. Facing away from them was a young woman, about Lucy's age, wrapped in several layers of clothing. She had long auburn hair that rolled passed her shoulders in thick curls. She darted out of the doorway and began to pull on the arm of an elderly gentleman, her blue eyes bright with excitement.

"Ho ho! Alright, Katrielle, I'm coming." As he stepped inside the light of the hallway revealed him; in one hand he held a walking stick, and in the other the brim of his top hat. Although his hair was greying and his face was lined with wrinkles, Lucy recognised him immediately. The gentleman saw Alfendi and gave him a kind smile. "Alfendi! My boy, Merry Christmas."

" **Thanks.** " Alfendi shuffled sheepishly. " **You too, Dad**."


End file.
